1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image understanding aiding system, an image position matching apparatus, and an image output device. This invention particularly relates to an image understanding aiding system, wherein position matching processing is performed on two images of a pair of objects, which are to be compared with each other, in cases where the two images are to be outputted such that the two images are located in a line. This invention also relates to devices for constituting the image understanding aiding system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In cases where images of a pair of breasts, which images have been recorded, are outputted to hard copy output media, such as film, or soft copy output media, such as a CRT and an LCD, the images have heretofore been outputted in a format (as illustrated in FIG. 6A), in which the images of the right and left breasts stand back to back with each other, such that image understanding of the images of the right and left breasts may be performed easily. The image output format described above is based upon the findings in that the structures of the right and left breasts, particularly the structures of the breastry glands of the right and left breasts, are approximately symmetrical with each other. In cases where the images of the right and left breasts are outputted in the format described above, the comparison and seeing of the images of the right and left breasts are capable of being performed easy. Also, in cases where an abnormal pattern, such as a cancer pattern, is embedded in one of the images of the right and left breasts, the resulting asymmetric distribution of image densities is capable of being found easily. Further, finding failures at the time of diagnoses are capable of being prevented from occurring.
However, in cases where the two images of the right and left breasts are simply located in a line such that the two images may stand back to back with each other, it may often occur that the two images of the right and left breasts are outputted in a pattern other than the symmetric pattern due to, for example, a deviation in positioning at the time of image recording operations (as illustrated in FIG. 6B).
Therefore, the applicant proposed an image displaying system for displaying medical images of two objects, which are to be compared with each other, on a display screen of an image displaying device, such that the two images are located in a line along a horizontal direction, wherein the image displaying system further comprises position matching processing means for matching the positions of the medical images with each other, such that corresponding positions of the object patterns may align with each other on the display screen. With the proposed image displaying system, the position matching processing means is constituted as means for manually performing vertical translation of at least either one of the two medical images on the display screen of the image displaying device by use of a mouse device. Alternatively, the position matching processing means is constituted as means for automatically detecting the corresponding positions of the object patterns in the two medical images and automatically translating at least either one of the two medical images, such that the corresponding positions having been detected may align with each other on the display screen. (The proposed image displaying system is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-065613.)
However, in cases where a plurality of diagnosing persons see the same pair of the breast images by the utilization of the image displaying systems as described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-065613, which image displaying systems are located at the diagnosing persons, the same position matching processing is performed in each of the image displaying systems. Therefore, as the entire system, the same position matching processing is iterated in the image displaying systems, and the efficiency of the processing is not capable of being kept high.